


Touhou Drabbles

by limelightwrites



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 11:55:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20778161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limelightwrites/pseuds/limelightwrites
Summary: Short little story ideas that sometimes need to go somewhere.





	1. Reimu's Flashy Box

**Author's Note:**

> I actually haven't read any of the official Touhou manga, so my interpretation of Akyuu could be totally and utterly wrong, so I apologize

Hieda no Akyuu was a name known in the Human Village by all. After all, she was the Child of Mare, the sole chronicler of Gensokyo. So many people relied on her perfect memory of lifetimes past to learn. Even with such responsibilities, Akyuu would take it all in stride, regardless of difficulty.

It was easy to tell Akyuu out from the crowd (not that she would be in one to begin with) with her purple eyes and hair, and with her outfit resembling a Japanese maid outfit (although it was clearly decorated with white flowers), she looked even more important. For someone like her, who has seen tough times over and over again in past lives, appearances were only of middling importance.

However many tough times she endured though, Akyuu wasn’t prepared for a mass abduction. No one was. Nearly no one left in the village even noticed, until it was clear that many of the stalls in the courtyard were going to be vacant, and a lot of the shops down the main street weren’t opened. This prompted the remaining villagers, Akyuu and servants included, to gather in the rather empty courtyard.

People were shouting. It took a while for Akyuu to filter out unnecessary noise, and to speak up.

“Friends! Freaking out like this will only incite more and more panic. We need to calm down, and think logically. I will do everything in my power to find out what has happened.”

This only slightly alleviated the strife embedded in everyone, unfortunately, and the yelling came back in a roar. A bit irritated, Akyuu gestured to her servants, and asked them to come close.

“Please accompany me to the Hakurei Shrine. The shrine maiden would do well to hear of what has happened.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Mystia Lorelei shrieked as she avoided yet another laser. Youkai from all around have been inching toward breaking the spell card rules, and now, even properly stated and situated spell card duels meant nothing to the more powerful youkai. Mystia just wanted to run her lamprey stand in peace, and was doing so, before the princess of the Netherworld, Yuyuko Saigyouji, chased by a panicking Youmu Konpaku, started attacking her without so much as even a hello. And it was so difficult to dodge the numerous bullets and butterflies Yuyuko fired at her.

“Come oooooon~! Get hit and die already! You’ll sit so well in my stomach!”

“L-Lady Yuyuko! Please stop this at once! I-I’ll make you anything else! Just please stop!”

“Sorry, Youmu, but only this chicken will satisfy me this time around…”

Mystia shivered, and dodged another stream of bullets. These ones barrelled into her lamprey stand, and caused the entire thing to blow up, stock and all. The night sparrow’s eyes widened, then began to fill with tears.

“M-My stand!! I’ve worked so hard on my business, just for it to be destroyed?!”

Yuyuko seemed indifferent to the entire thing, and continued her assault. Mystia, now enraged, began using spell cards of her own, sending her own bullets careening everywhere; into Yuyuko’s bullets, into trees, into the flaming wreck that used to be a lamprey stand, and even toward Youmu, who dodged the bullets and continued her desperate pleas.

Before Mystia could use her last spell card, a voice rang out from below. “Stop this at once! The Child of Mare demands it!”

Below the ghost and the sparrow, Akyuu’s troop of servants pointed their makeshift weapons at Mystia and Yuyuko. The poor things were shaking like mad. Yuyuko let out a bitter laugh. “Ah, alright, but not because you said so. This was getting really boring anyway… Youmu, you better find me a new meal~!” 

And with that, the Netherworld’s denizens were gone, rushing away rapidly from view. Mystia raised her arms, and floated down to the ground. Her vision blurred with the presence of tears. Akyuu immediately noticed the strange behavior of the youkai, and signaled to her servants to lower their weapons. 

The Child of Mare approached the now sobbing Mystia, and patted her back comfortingly. “I know you’re distraught from the loss of your lamprey stand, and that’s why the Hieda clan will help you rebuild it.”

Mystia turned her head to look at Akyuu. “I lost so many valuables in that explosion! You can’t possibly replace that!”

Akyuu frowned. Youkai usually didn’t dwell on material belongings. But she figured this was a special case, considering it was also uncommon for a youkai to open up a food stand to raise money. But nevertheless, she continued to comfort the sobbing night sparrow, as did the other various weaker youkai who came out of the bushes and sat around her in a circle. 

Akyuu noted some familiar faces, like Wriggle Nightbug and Rumia, and even Cirno. But what came as a surprise to her was when the tengu reporter Aya Shameimaru dropped in from the sky but, instead of drilling anyone with questions, silently took pictures of the wreckage, of Mystia and her little group of friends, and even one of Akyuu and her servants, before patting Mystia once on the back with a “Sorry”, and flying off again. It was strange.

Nevertheless, Akyuu spoke up once more. “I may not be able to replace your stand, but what we can do is go to Hakurei Shrine and see why the maiden is blatantly ignoring these little incidents.”

It was true. Reimu hasn’t even been seen by anyone for around a week. It was as if she had just disappeared from the face of Gensokyo. Even an actual incident (this current Human Village problem) didn’t seem to garner Reimu’s interest. And since the green shrine maiden was currently busy with other matters and didn’t even usually pick up Reimu’s slack, there was a lot of small, mischievous things that were just going right under the shrine maiden’s radar.

Akyuu sighed when Mystia didn’t answer, and simply walked around her and her youkai friends. “If any of you would like to join me in going up to the shrine, please do.” 

And the Child of Mare was off, with her servants close behind. After a few seconds, Mystia got up and began following her, wiping her eyes. And everyone else followed. It took a few seconds for anyone from Akyuu’s party to realize they had a mob of youkai following them all the way up to the shrine.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
“Miss Reimu? Are you home?”

Akyuu gently knocked against the shrine’s door. Or, rather, the doorway. For some reason, the public part of the shrine didn’t have a door, although Reimu’s own living space was sectioned away from the other parts of the shrine.

At the lack of response, Mystia growled. “She better get her sorry little self out here so she can punish that Princess Yuyuko!”

Akyuu winced. That was the most violent she’s ever seen Mystia. It was justifiable though, in the sense that the night sparrow’s pride and joy had been reduced to flaming rubble just earlier.

Letting herself in, Akyuu took a few careful steps around the shrine, and noticed how dusty the floor was. Even if it was only a week, the fact that the shrine was dirty definitely meant something was wrong. Then, she noticed a faint, flickering light coming from Reimu’s living space.

“Miss Reimu? Are you there?” Akyuu failed to keep a tone of irritation out of her voice, and silently cursed herself for it.

Someone from inside shuffled, and slid the door open. Akyuu nearly gasped at the state of Reimu’s living space. It was littered with trash and dirty shrine maiden outfits, and a strange, glowing box sat on top of it all. Reimu hurriedly covered the strange device.

“Why can’t you knock?! I’m busy!” Reimu’s voice cracked.

“I did knock. And there’s no way you were busy… my guess is that this strange device has kept you away from duties for a solid week.”

Reimu frowned. “Okay, fine, yeah, it has. Kaguya let me borrow this thing, and I’ve been giving myself a well-deserved break.”

Well deserved break? Akyuu was fairly certain that, while this was true, a week was far too long to let things in Gensokyo keep to themselves. But she ignored that for now, and continued.

“I think your break is done. There is an incident in the human village that needs resolving.” Akyuu tutted, then flinched as Mystia barged into the shrine.

“AND that Yuyuko girl destroyed my lamprey stand! I demand compensation AND punishment to-”

Reimu got up, causing the night sparrow to immediately shut up. “Hey, watch it! You’re tracking dirt all over!”

Akyuu internally sighed, and noted the irony in that. “Mystia is right to be angry, though. The attack was unprompted, and I overheard Yuyuko mentioned having intentions to kill her.”

This caught Reimu’s attention. “Dammit, I knew that glutton couldn’t control herself… fine, fine. I’m going to solve both of these things. Now, outta my way so I can get there quicker.”

Akyuu and Mystia gladly parted as Reimu went outside and took to the sky. The two of them glanced at each other. Mystia spoke first.

“Thanks, I guess. You’re not bad for a human.” She sounded genuinely grateful.

Akyuu smiled in return. “It’s my pleasure. Now, if you’ll let us, we can find someone who will build you a new lamprey cart…”  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


	2. Kappa Crypt

“You’re not going to believe THIS!!”

Aya Shameimaru, momentarily distracted from sifting through photos she took of the latest flower viewing session in the Netherworld, tilted her head back, and was greeted by a lot of blue. Blue pockets, blue boots, blue hair… she was right in assuming that Nitori Kawashiro, a kappa who normally didn’t leave Genbu Ravine, had paid her a very rare visit.

“I hate to be blunt, but why are you here?” Aya turned herself around, to get a proper look at her new guest. Indeed, it was Nitori, and she was holding out a key. Aya reached out to take it, but the kappa somehow beat her in pulling it back.

“Nuh-uh-uh! This key’s not for taking! I came to tell you about a possible big scoop you could write about! Your newspaper would be the first to write about it!”

This sent Aya reeling. Well, not really, but her mind began to race with the possibilities. Had there been a big fight? Or maybe this key led to some sort of secret base for secret youkai activities? Or even a human base with similar traits? Oh, the possibilities were endless! Unfortunately, Nitori’s words shook her out of her fervor.

“This key opens up one of the oldest kappa crypts in Genbu Ravine! And no doubt there’ll be some dusty gadgets you could write about!”

Lovely. Aya sighed, and turned back to her camera. “Sure, it sounds interesting, but who would want to read about that?”

Nitori wagged a finger in the air. “Everyone! Everyone’s a fan of kappa gadgets after all! Who do you think made the nuclear furnace work so well? Or the radio tower? Kappa, of course! And mostly me, because now I’m apparently the face of all kappa.”

Aya tilted her head. “Alright, you know what? Let’s go explore a kappa crypt.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The key clicked, and the giant stone door leading to the crypt opened. How they managed to fit a giant stone door in the ravine without it being noticed much was a mystery to Aya, but she didn’t think too much about it. After all, she needed to focus on the bigger picture; getting pictures of the crypt. And that’s what she did the moment the door gave her enough room to dart inside.

The crypt, she realized, was not for deceased kappa, but rather, for past gadgets said kappa had made. Of course, none of it really made sense to the tengu, but Nitori seemed to be in a giggly fit as she darted around from pile to pile of scrapped inventions.

“Oh! This is a prototype of the kappa-copter! I’m surprised someone thought of this before I did! Oh, and this! This has gotta be the longest mechanical arm I’ve ever seen! I really gotta take this apart to-- hey, look, there’s an outside world device! Well, at least, I’m pretty sure it’s--”

“You’re in my shot, Nitori! Please move! We’ll do candid shots later!” Aya pointed her camera at another pile of junk and snapped a picture. The flash made something glint in response, and Aya caught a glimpse of it. She put down her camera, and approached what had gleamed.

It looked to be some sort of small robot in the shape of a turtle. Nitori noticed it and approached it as well, picking it up.

“Oh, wow, this looks like some sort of robot! Maybe it was supposed to fetch things for a busy kappa?”

Aya narrowed her eyes. Not at what Nitori was saying, but at something on the turtle robot. When the kappa had picked it up, it had revealed a small, empty compartment on the bottom.

“Hey, is that where batteries are supposed to go?” Aya pointed to the compartment, and Nitori flipped the turtle around to see what the tengu was talking about.

“Yeah, looks like it,” Nitori said with a grin. “Maybe if we give it some power, it’ll function! It doesn’t really look broken, and it’s too sealed for me to check.”

Aya opened her mouth to respond, but the crypt began to tremble, shaking loose rocks from the ceiling. Tengu and kappa alike glanced around frantically.

“Wh-what was that? There shouldn’t be any disturbances in the structure of the ravine! This crypt has been here forever!” Nitori put the turtle robot inside her backpack, and the crypt shook again.

“I dunno, but my reporter sense is telling me that we have to leave!” Aya began to head to the door, but Nitori pulled on her arm.

“Hey, wait! There’s a ton of stuff we haven’t checked out yet! We could find something even more interesting than the--”

Another rumble from the crypt. Some of the piles of machines began to slide and disperse, coating the floor in broken metal. Nitori squeaked, and turned around, putting her back to the doorway, and was met with something scary.

A gigantic metallic sentinel stood before them. It was at least as tall as the door, and that was saying a lot. Poor Nitori was only a particularly large insect compared to this steel behemoth. 

Aya, having not noticed the threat yet, gasped when Nitori pulled her out of the crypt.

“SHUTTHEDOORSHUTTHEDOORSHUTTHEDOOR!” Nitori’s desperate pleas were met with equally desperate strength as the two of them began closing the big stone doors. 

Once the doors were sealed shut once more (and locked, for good measure), Nitori and Aya slumped against it with a sigh.

“What even happened? Why did you run out so fast?” Aya took out her notebook.

Nitori took a deep breath. “I think there was a guard in there. A giant, metal guard. A sentinel, if you will. It was there so no one disturbed the crypt…”

Aya fell silent, writing this down. Then, she picked up her camera, and snapped a quick picture of Nitori, who let out a yelp of surprise.

“Now this is a story! Gensokyo’ll be thrilled to hear about the metal giant in Genbu Ravine!”


End file.
